Sinkhole collapses street near Detroit's GM Renaissance Center

Detroit SinkholeAn 8-foot wide, several-feet-deep sinkhole appeared in the street at East Jefferson and Randolph in downtown Detroit on the evening of Jan. 18, 2014.

DETROIT, MI - Heavy machinery equipped with a jackhammer chipped away concrete at the edge of a gaping 8-foot-wide, several-feet-deep hole on the north side of East Jefferson at Randolph in downtown Detroit near the General Motors Renaissance Center.

The recession appeared sometime Saturday evening. Photos of the hole shared on social media show it was only a couple feet wide as of Saturday night. Other reports indicate a a taxicab ran into it.

Two lanes of westbound East Jefferson and southbound Randolph were closed while workers enlarged the hole, apparently intending to fill it with a large pile of sand dumped in the road to the west of the work site.

Supervisors inspected the antiquated subterranean municipal infrastructure on blue prints spread precariously on the hood of a city vehicle as high winds whipped around.

They directed all comment to the city's Public Affairs Department.

The area around the hole was barricaded, forcing onlookers to stay about 10 feet away, but it appeared the bucket of a backhoe was dipping at least 5 feet beneath the surface of the road.

There were conflicting statements made by workers in the area as to when the collapse occurred. A security guard, who started his shift at the GM Renaissance Center at 6 p.m. Saturday, said the road was blocked off when he arrived to his job.

A man waving a flag and directing visitors to a paid parking lot, said he left work at 6 p.m. Saturday and it had not yet been barricaded.

Sinkholes are created when the surface layer of earth collapses, which can occur due to water erosion or the failure of man-made infrastructure, for instance the collapse of a sewer main.